Why | Tech of Our Own

Technology becomes hostile when the incentives around it are hostile. A product can begin with a good mission and still drift into subscriptions, surveillance, lock-in, or planned dependence if the institution behind it is rewarded for those things.

Tech of Our Own starts from a different premise: people should be able to own the technology they rely on.

Ownership is a practical requirement

Ownership is not just a legal or philosophical word. It changes what is possible in practice.

If the hardware lives with you, if the software can run without asking permission, and if your data stays under your roof, then the system can keep serving you even when the market would prefer to turn you into a recurring revenue stream.

That is why local-first design matters. The machine should continue to work because it is yours, not because a service somewhere else still approves of your presence.

The anti-pattern is familiar

Most modern consumer technology drifts toward the same destination.

Rent instead of ownership.
Convenience that depends on remote control.
Upgrades that quietly remove options.
Business models that reward surveillance, extraction, or lock-in.

Mission statements do not prevent that drift. Incentives do.

Non-extractive technology requires non-extractive incentives

If the institution is built to chase exit events, maximize lock-in, or squeeze users after adoption, the product will follow.

That is why we care about governance, incentives, and durability at the same time. Users and workers as owners is not decoration. It is part of how the product stays aligned with the people who live with its consequences.

Local-first is how technology becomes durable again

Local-first design is not nostalgia. It is a discipline.

It means the useful core of the system should run on hardware you control. It means the network is a choice, not a condition of basic functionality. It means your storage, your services, and your records should remain legible to you.

A durable machine is one that can be inspected, repaired, upgraded, and kept in service without begging a vendor to keep your life intact.

What follows from this

This is why Tech of Our Own emphasizes:

hardware that can stay in service
software that keeps working locally
first-party media and documentation
no ad-tech and no surveillance business model
no subscription dependency for the core value of the product

We are not trying to build a shinier dependency. We are trying to build technology people can keep.